A Secret Amish Love

James pulled into the parking lot and drove around to the back as usual. She saw him grimace as he climbed out, but she didn’t say anything as she followed him inside the building. James went into his office while she went right to work restocking his medical bag with the supplies he’d used at Abram’s. When she was done, she entered his office and confronted him.

“You hurt your leg,” she said. She swallowed hard. “May I see?”

He gazed at her a long moment, and she felt her face heat, but he finally nodded. Fortunately, the legs of his black slacks were loose. James gingerly pulled up his pants leg.

Nell gasped. His shin was swollen and severely bruised. She eyed the black-and-blue area with concern. “You should see a doctor,” she suggested softly.

“I’ll be fine,” he said sharply. She didn’t take offense for she knew he was hurting.

“I’ll get some ice,” she said and went into the kitchen.

When she returned, his head was tilted against the chair back, his eyes closed.

“James,” she whispered. His eyes flashed open. She held up the ice pack. “For your leg.”

“Thank you.” He shifted, straightening. His pants had fallen back to cover his injured leg. He tugged up the fabric again, and Nell bent to place the pack on his bruised skin.

“It looks sore,” she said with sympathy as she knelt to hold it in place.

James gave her a crooked smile. “A bit.”

She shook her head, trying not to be uncomfortable looking up at him from near his feet. “You should go to the emergency room—or a clinic.” She rose, and her gaze traveled around the room.

“What are you looking for?” James asked.

“Something to prop your leg up on so you can ice it properly.”

“No need.” He dropped his pant leg and rose. “It’s time to head out. I can ice it at home.”

Nell saw him wince as he moved, but she held her tongue. “I’ll check the reception area and make sure it’s locked up.”

“Okay.” He waited while she hurried out to the front room to lock up and retrieve her purse from under the desk. She took one last look around, then returned to where James waited near the back door.

“Thanks for your help today.”

Nell shrugged. “That’s what you pay me for.”

A tiny smile formed on his lips. “I guess I do.”

They headed outside together. James pulled the door shut behind them and made sure it was secure.

Nell saw that he held the ice pack and was glad. She became conscious of him beside her as she waited for him to turn. “I will see you on Wednesday?” she asked.

He hesitated. “Yes.”

“Is anything wrong?” she asked, sensing a shift in his mood.

James opened and closed his mouth, as if to answer but thought better of it. “It’s late.”

Nell experienced a burning in her stomach. “Ja. I should head home.” She turned away. Something was definitely bothering the man.

“See you in the morning, Nell.”

She paused but didn’t look back. She was afraid of what she’d see. “Ja, I’ll see you then.”

Then she hurried toward her buggy, feeling edgy and suddenly eager to be away and at home.

* * *

James watched Nell leave, then followed her buggy in his car until their paths split. He continued straight until he reached a small shopping center with a bakery, a candy shop and a small gift shop. He drove around to the back of the building, got out of his car and went in a back entrance that led to his apartment above the bakery.

As he started painfully up the stairs, he caught the scent of rich chocolate. Usually, he’d head into the bakery to buy whatever it was that Mattie Mast was making downstairs. But with his throbbing shin, the only thing he wanted to do right now was put ice on the injury.

The trek up the staircase was slow, and he stopped several times. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally made it to the top.

His one-bedroom apartment was dark as he entered. He threw his keys onto the kitchen table and went to open a few windows to let in the day’s breeze. The delicious scent of baking was stronger upstairs than down.

He refilled his ice bag, then, ignoring his rumbling stomach, he plopped down onto the sofa in his small living room, turned on the TV and shifted to put his feet onto the couch. He carefully set the ice pack that Nell had made on his swollen leg. He gazed at the television, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

It was Tuesday. There was still the rest of the week to get through. Would the pain in his leg let up enough for him to leave his apartment in the morning?

Nell will be there. He would make sure he got to work. She was helping him out, and he needed to be there.

Stretched out on his sofa, he stared at the ceiling with the sound of the television a dull buzz in his ears.

The ice felt good against his swollen leg. James closed his eyes, and the day played out in his mind. Nell’s calming influence as she worked by his side. Their trip to the Amish farm, treating the mare. Nell’s assistance with Abram Peachy and his son Nate. Her calming way with their mare Buddy. His growing friendship with Nell.

He saw Nell clearly in his mind—her soft brown hair, bright brown eyes and warm smile. She’d worn a green dress with black apron today, with a white kapp, dark stockings and black shoes. He smiled. He wondered how she’d look at home when she was at ease, barefoot and laughing as she chased children about the yard, with sparkling eyes and her mouth curved upward in amusement.

James wondered how it would feel to spend time with her outside of the office.

His eyes flickered open as shock made him sit up. He was more than a little attracted to Nell Stoltzfus!

James shook his head. He had no right to think about Nell in that way. He scowled. She was a member of an Amish community, a community like the one he’d left of his own free will to choose a different path in life.

He forced his attention back to the television. He began to channel surf to find something—anything—that would consume his interest other than thoughts of Nell Stoltzfus.

* * *

Nell’s four sisters were in the yard when she returned home.

“We heard what happened!” Charlie said.

“At Abram’s,” Ellie explained.

“Nate said you were both wonderful. He said you worked efficiently and quietly by the veterinarian’s side,” Charlie added.

“Was it true that James got kicked by Buddy?” Meg asked.

Nell studied her sisters with amusement. “Do you want me to answer any of you, or would you prefer to provide the answers yourself?”

Leah, the only sister who hadn’t spoken yet, laughed. She was the next oldest after Nell. “How did it go?”

“Well,” Nell said. “It went well. James sutured Buddy and left her in Abram’s care.”

“Was it awful?” Charlie asked. “Seeing all that blood?”

“I felt bad for Buddy, but I was oll recht. I didn’t think much about anything but what I could do to help James.”

The sisters walked toward the house as it was nearing suppertime. There would be work in the kitchen as they helped their mother to prepare the meal.

“Only three days more, ja?” Leah asked when their sisters had gone ahead into the house.

Nell faced her sister as they stood on the front porch. “Ja, in a way I’ll be sad to see it end.”

“But ’tis for the better that it will.” Leah watched her carefully.

“Ja.” She leaned against the porch rail. “But until then, I’m learning so much. Things I’ll be able to use in helping our friends and neighbors. I know I can’t take the place of a veterinarian but I’ll be able to handle more than I could before.”

Leah regarded her silently. “What’s he like?”

“James?”

Her sister nodded. Her golden-blond hair, blue eyes and a warm smile made her the prettiest one of all of the sisters, at least in Nell’s eyes. Today, she wore a light blue dress which emphasized her eyes. On her head she wore a matching blue kerchief and she was barefoot. She had come from working in their vegetable garden.

“You saw him at the Masts’,” Nell reminded her.

“But seeing him isn’t working with him.”

For a moment, Nell got lost in her thoughts. “He’s a caring man who’s compassionate with animals. He’s a gut vet. You should have seen him with Buddy. He—” She bit her lip.

“He was injured today,” Leah said. “Nate stopped while you were gone. He said Buddy kicked him while he was trying to sedate her.”

“Ja, but you wouldn’t have known it by looking at him afterward. He worked as if nothing was bothering him when his leg must have hurt terribly.” Nell had been amazed—not only by his skill but by his attention to Abram’s mare.

“You like him.”

“I wouldn’t work for him if I didn’t like and respect him.”

“I know that, but I think you feel more for him.”

“Nay,” she denied quickly. “He’s gut at what he does, and I respect that.”

Leah nodded. As they entered the house, Nell wondered if her sister believed her.

She’d felt awful when she saw the extent of James’s injury. She’d been startlingly aware of him as she’d pressed the ice pack against his shin. The sudden rush of feeling as she’d held the pack against his masculine leg for those brief moments had frightened her. Caring for him in that way had felt too intimate. She’d risen quickly and searched for a chair or stool to prop up his leg. When James had declared that it was time to go home, she’d been relieved.

“Nell,” her mother greeted as she and Leah entered the kitchen. “I heard you had an eventful day.”

Nell nodded. “It was more eventful for Abram’s mare.”

“She’s all right?”

“Buddy’s fine. James stitched her up as gut as new. She’ll be in pain for a while, but he left Abram medication for her.”

“Gut. Gut,” Mam said. “Ellie, would you get the potato salad out of the refrigerator? Meg, you carry in the sweet and sour beans. Leah, would you mind getting your father? Supper is almost ready.”

“What about me?” Charlie said.

Her mother smiled. “You can set the table with Nell.”

Nell went to help her sister. She was home and felt less conflicted in this world she knew so well.

She might have imagined the strange tension between her and James. Tomorrow she’d put things in perspective and realize that the tenseness between them was just a figment of her imagination.

Chapter Five

Wednesday morning, Nell got up extra early to make her favorite contribution of potato salad for Aunt Katie’s quilting bee. By the time her mother and siblings had entered the kitchen, she had finished cleaning the dishes she’d used. She automatically started to pull out the ingredients for the cake and pie that she knew that her mother wanted to bring.

“You’re up early,” Leah said.

“Ja, I thought I’d take a look at Buddy this morning before I head to the clinic.”

“That’s a fine idea,” Mam said as she came into the room. “I’m sure Abram will appreciate it.”

Nell ate breakfast with her family, then stayed long enough to clean up before she got ready to leave. She ran upstairs to get her black shoes. When she was done, she hurried downstairs to the barnyard. She chose to take the family pony cart and hitched up Daisy before she headed toward Abram Peachy’s place.

She wondered what time James would arrive at the office this morning. Would she be able to reach him if Buddy suddenly needed additional medical care?

It was six thirty. She knew that Abram and his family most likely would be up and doing morning chores. No doubt Charlotte was already in the kitchen preparing food for this afternoon’s quilting gathering.

The weather was lovely. Nell appreciated the colors and scents of summer. A bird chirped as it flew across the road and landed in a tree. The trees and lawns were a lush verdant green, moist with the morning’s dew. There was no traffic on the roadway.

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